Labor Migration

Guidelines

The OSI Central Eurasia Project (CEP) strives to increase awareness of human rights violations and the availability of reliable information on the social and economic health of the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia, within the region and around the world, in order to shape policies that foster open societies. Through grantmaking to international and indigenous NGOs, CEP helps to build local capacity, bring international expertise to bear on the region, and promote cooperation among local activists, international organizations, and civic movements in the field of human rights. The ultimate goal of these activities is to strengthen civil society and construct support networks for civil society representatives within international structures and movements.

CEP provides programmatic and general operating support grants to organizations focused on advancing civil society and development in the region. In the context of this Call for Proposals, Central Eurasia encompasses Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Priorities for grantmaking in 2008 include the following:

Turkmenistan

• Community development and indigenous capacity-building.
• Transparency and good governance related to resource revenues (oil, gas, hydro-energy, and cotton).

Uzbekistan

• Human rights: Improving the effectiveness of human rights work in the region and fostering accountability for human rights violations using existing regional and international advocacy mechanisms for the protection of human rights. Child labor rights is a focus area.
• Labor migrants and refugees: Supporting policy research and advocacy on behalf of migrants and refugees from and within the region, and promoting grassroots and policy initiatives that protect the rights and interests of these individuals.
• Cotton: Enabling local and international activists to address human rights and other abuses associated with the region’s cotton economy.
• Cultural initiatives: Promoting values of freedom through artistic and cultural expression.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan

• Human rights: Improving the effectiveness of human rights work in the region and fostering accountability for human rights violations using existing regional and international advocacy mechanisms for the protection of human rights.
• Labor migrants and refugees: Supporting policy research and advocacy on behalf of migrants and refugees from and within the region, and promoting grassroots and policy initiatives that protect the rights and interests of these individuals.
• Transparency and good governance related to resource revenues (oil, gas, hydro-energy, and cotton)

Eligibility

All applications must be made on behalf of organizations or informal groups, which may include, but are not limited to, informal coalitions, nongovernmental organizations, humanitarian aid or other charitable organizations, and educational institutions. United States–based applicants must be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Please note that CEP does not accept applications for individual grants such as fellowships, scholarships, or travel grants. Scholars and activists interested in submitting individual research proposals should contact the address below for further information.

Organizations applying for funding may be based within or outside of the region. However, organizations located in Central Eurasia that are planning to conduct activities in their own country are encouraged first to contact their local Soros Foundation about funding opportunities. CEP reserves the right to refer all single-country proposals submitted by organizations based in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Tajikistan to the applicable Soros foundation for consideration.

For more information on OSI's work in Turkmenistan, view the Turkmenistan Project website.

Proposals to support projects in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and the Middle East should be directed to OSI’s Middle East & North Africa Initiative.
Proposals to support projects in Turkey should be directed to the Open Society Assistance Foundation–Turkey.

To Apply

All proposals should be submitted by email to CEPgrants@sorosny.org. The name of the country of benefit must be listed in the subject line of the email.

Deadlines

Grant applications will be considered twice in 2008, according to the following schedule: